OS X Tips

By default, dictation on OS X is initiated by using a double-press of the function (fn) key on your Mac’s keyboard. But did you know that it is also possible to start dictation hands-free using only your voice? In this brief tutorial, we’ll show you how.
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Yesterday, we wrote a post about hiding the menu bar, and in the corresponding video tutorial, we used window snapping to highlight one of the benefits of a hidden menu bar. Afterwards, I received several tweets and emails asking how to perform window snapping, since this is not a feature that appears natively in OS X.

Window snapping allows you to position windows in specific areas of the screen, usually by dragging the window to the edge of the screen, causing the window to “snap” into place. This feature was first popularized by Microsoft’s Aero Snap on Windows. Even though Apple doesn’t natively support it, window snapping is available on the Mac via a variety of third-party apps.
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If you’re running OS X El Capitan, it’s possible to hide the menu bar on your primary display. Hiding the menu bar works very much like a hidden Dock in OS X, in that when you move your cursor to the edge of the screen, the menu bar reappears from its hidden state. In this post we’ll show you how to hide your menu bar, and why you might consider doing so.
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If you find that System Preferences in OS X contains too many options that you don’t regularly use, then you should considering hiding rarely used sections of the app. By using the Customize option in System Preferences, it’s easy to both show and hide specific sections with ease.
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Recently I noticed that my Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display seemed to be dying at a faster clip. Naturally, I assumed that the battery might be going bad.

After checking the battery cycle count, I learned that I was probably wrong about the battery being bad, as the cycle count was still well within the normal life span of my MacBook. Here’s how I was able to verify that everything was okay with my MacBook’s battery.

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Yesterday, we showed you how to create a custom service using Automator for easily resizing images via the Finder. Today, we’ll show you how to find the location of the custom services that you create in order to remove them. We’ll also show you how to enable or disable Services using System Preferences.
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Every day I use a handy service created with Automator to resize images exported from 4K footage to a smaller size. It’s easy to resize images in an app like Preview or Pixelmator, but using a service works better for me since it can batch resize multiple images in seconds, and it’s directly accessible from the Finder. Here’s how you can create your own handy image resizing service using Automator.
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Renaming multiple files can be a tedious process when doing so manually, but the Finder in OS X can make it easier to rename a batch of files at once on your Mac. Instead of relying on a third party app, use this handy tip to quickly rename a batch of files without breaking a sweat.
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If you have multiple audio inputs or outputs connected to your Mac, then you’re probably aware that you can visit System Preferences to manage and switch between interfaces at will. But wouldn’t it be nice if there was a quicker way to switch to a set of speakers or a microphone without venturing all the way into the Sound panel of System Preferences? In this post, we’ll share with you a handy shortcut that we use every day to do just that.
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Over the last few days I’ve been finding myself using a keyboard designed for Windows users on my Mac. The reason behind such a change was that my MacBook Pro’s keyboard was causing wrist pain. The shallow key travel of the MacBook’s keyboard is partly to blame.

I just so happened to have an AmazonBasics wired keyboard available thanks to my recent Hackintosh build, so I decided to use it with my Mac. Immediately, I could sense relief in my wrists, but because this was a keyboard designed for Windows and not for Mac, the switch presented a whole new problem.
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Mission Control is a great feature found in OS X that can simplify the process of moving items between full screen apps when combined with Hot Corners. Hot Corners, a feature that I talked about in my 10 getting started tips for new OS X users, allows you to place your mouse pointer in one of the four corners of your Mac’s screen to invoke a specific response.

When combining the power of Hot Corners with Mission Control, you can easily move items to and from full screen apps. Have a look at our video tutorial inside for the details.
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I’ve never been a fan of the stock Mail app in OS X, so I generally find myself relying on Gmail inside of Chrome for all of my email needs. In fact, I don’t have any email accounts configured inside of the stock Mail app at all. With this in mind, I always get frustrated when I inadvertently click a mailto link inside of a browser window. Doing so forces the Mail app, which is set as the default mail client in OS X, to open without purpose.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could configure Gmail to play the role of the default mail client inside your browser of choice? In this video tutorial, I’ll show you how easy it is to configure Chrome, Safari, and even Firefox to use Gmail as the default mail client.
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Yesterday, I presented a list of 10 different tips that I thought any new Mac owner should know. As stated in that walkthrough, I don’t consider every recommendation on the list to be an absolute must-follow for new Mac users. There are a few items on the list, however, that are staples in my opinion.

For example, I would hate it if every minimized window on OS X occupied its own space on the Dock. For that reason, I rush to enable the “Minimize window into application icon” option (found in System Preferences → Dock) after every new install. But enabling such a feature comes with its own caveat — it’s hard to know exactly what’s behind an app icon on the Dock once you’ve minimized its respective windows. Thankfully, there’s a handy Mac utility that allows you to preview app windows by hovering over icons in the Dock.
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As someone who reinstalls macOS several times a year, I’ve gotten into a habit of powering through the initial setup process without thinking much about it. Today, I’d like to share 10 of my favorite initial setup tips with new Mac users. But even if you’re a long-time Mac user, you may still find a helpful gem or two within this how-to.
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